France is one of Heuver Tyrewholesale's growth markets for the Aeolus range of tyres. In order to reinforce the brand's positioning as "the leading alternative" to major brands, Heuver Tyrewholesale is taking a stand at the Equip'Auto exhibition trade show from 11 to 15 October.
A New Zealand coroner’s call for a nationwide ban upon winter tyres has failed to gain widespread support. Palmerston North coroner Tim Scott made this recommendation following an inquest into a fatal car accident involving a vehicle that was imported second hand from Japan with cold weather tyres fitted.
Leicestershire based tool and equipment distributor SIP Industrial Products Limited recently launched its 'Big Winter Sale Event' which incorporates significant discounts on over 400 SIP branded products for many market sectors including the automotive sector.
Nokian Tyres is widely acknowledged as a winter tyre pioneer, but other companies also played a part in the introduction of season-specific tyres. One such firm is Semperit, who this year celebrates three quarters of a century in the winter tyre business.
With fevered anticipation – to use an inappropriate idiom – developing in the UK tyre business about the next winter season and the growth opportunities it may offer, ATS Euromaster has seized upon the predictions of meteorologist James Madden at Exacta Weather. He predicts October will see below average temperatures and snow in places, with heavier and more widespread snow storms in November and worse to come in December and January. ATS-E has taken the opportunity to remind businesses to prepare for difficult travelling conditions.
Germany’s Syron Tires has announced an expansion of its winter product line, introducing an SUV and truck iteration. The Everest SUV and Everest C, alongside an extension in the sizes available of the Everest 1 series, bring the total range of fitments to 52 sizes. The company says the Everest range will extend further in time for the 2011/12 winter season, making sizes from 13 to 19 inches available.
Ambulances across the Midlands will be driven on cold weather tyres this winter to enable crews to reach patients more safely. Both the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) and East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) will use Michelin’s Agilis Alpin and Alpin 4 ranges across their fleets – a total 530 ambulances and 308 rapid response cars. The decision comes after the neighbouring trusts’ fleet managers compared standard tyres with cold weather tyres at a test day at the MIRA track in Warwickshire in June.
Tyre manufacturer Techking reports that the first batch of its Ice King winter tyres with studs comes out at the end of July. The product is designed for use in north Europe, Russia and Canada markets, where snow is heavy. According to the company, the pattern was designed based on the feedback from the local partners and some market study by Effiplus engineers.
On July 29 the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg introduced a regulation making the use of winter tyres compulsory in certain weather conditions. As of October 1, 2012, cars will be required to have M+S marked tyres fitted when frost, ice, slush or packed snow is present; trucks, buses and other heavy vehicles will be required to have M+S tyres fitted to drive axles.
In order to meet growing medium to long-term demand for passenger car radials, Bridgestone intends to increase production capacity at two of its factories in China. The Japanese company will invest a total of around RMB 1,617 million (£153 million) to lift capacity at its Tianjin, Bridgestone (Tianjin) Tire Co., Ltd and Bridgestone (Wuxi) Tire Co., Ltd facilities. The part of this additional capacity is expected to be available in May 2012 when a further 4,100 tyres per day capacity will be added to capacity at the Wuxi plant; this increase will be funded through a RMB 563 million investment and give the facility a total daily capacity of 16,300 tyres. Extra capacity at the Tianjin plant is expected to be available as of July 2012; the RMB 1,054 investment there will lift the factory’s production capacity by 8,800 tyres a day to a total of 25,300 per day. Bridgestone says it intends to particularly focus upon increasing production capacity for ‘eco-friendly’ tyres, such as its Ecopia range, at both facilities. It will also begin winter tyre production at the Tianjin plant.
Nankang Rubber Tire has launched a new asymmetric winter tyre, the ESSN-1. The manufacturer says the tyre offers superior performance in “all extreme winter conditions, including curvy roads covered in ice, wet, and snow”. The tyre has zigzag 3D siping to optimise tread element stiffness and handling. The outside tread pattern strengthens cornering manoeuvrability, and the inside enhances straight-line stability with riding comfort. It also benefits from a patent tread compound with stiff natural kernel powder, promoting “ice-lodging ability to enhance traction”.
BKT Tire (USA) has added four new products to its agricultural range and a go-kart tyre in the USA and Canada, reports Tire Review. The two new tyres to the market are the BKT TF 9090, which was created for front axle fitment on tractors. It has three ribs for increased traction and stability on wet soil, according to the manufacturer, and is available in size 4.00-12. The SM 68 is a new go-kart line available in size 11×6.0-5.
In Japan, as elsewhere, the internet is growing in influence as a source of information for tyre purchasers. According to the according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2011 Japan Winter Tire Retailer Satisfaction Index Study, the percentage of Japanese consumers who say they rely on information from the internet while shopping for winter tyres has increased to 29 per cent in 2011, up seven percentage points from 2010, while the percentage of customers who say they purchased their winter tyres through the internet or mail order has increased to from nine per cent in 2010 to 13 per cent this year.
Marangoni presented two new additions for 2011 in Bologna in the Marangoni M-Power high performance tyre and the 4 Winter comm, a light transport winter tyre. The M-Power is designed for sports cars and SUVs, with an asymmetrical tread that has a block binding system, which gives greater handling benefits. It boasts sporting characteristics, but four longitudinal grooves reduce the typical aquaplaning effect of closed sporting patterns.
Channel Four reality television show The Fairy Jobmother will feature a 24-year-old former professional wrestler and dancer from Birmingham now working for ATS Euromaster this evening (21 June). Sarah Baker, who has danced at the National Indoor Arena and acted at the New Alexander Theatre is now a full member of the Customer Response Team at the head office of tyre company ATS Euromaster in Aston, thanks to the Jobmother herself, Hayley Taylor, who helps people to find work on the show.
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